Coconut

Toasted Coconut Banana Quinoa Breakfast Pudding

Toasted Coconut Banana Breakfast Pudding

After several days indulging in a few too many sweet treats that included lemon coconut tea cake, chocolate egg nests, and Easter sugar cookies, my body is ready for a break from the sugar and a return to healthier, simpler fare.

A great place for me to focus getting back on track is with breakfast. A healthy breakfast helps set the momentum for a happy, healthy, balanced day.

So, I made a pot of this healthy toasted coconut banana quinoa breakfast pudding that I plan to eat all week. Appearing as a dessert recipe in 500 Best Quinoa Recipes: 100% Gluten-Free Super-Easy Superfood, this dish didn’t cut it as a “dessert” in my book. It tasted way too “healthy.” Not wanting to waste perfectly good food, I decided it would be fine as a healthy breakfast.

A great source of fiber, protein and carbs, a bowl of this toasted coconut banana quinoa breakfast pudding topped with fruit should keep me satisfied until lunch. I’ll keep things interesting by topping it with different fruits: sliced bananas, strawberries and maybe even chopped pineapple. A drizzle of honey and splash of coconut milk will work well too.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 7 PointsPlus, Breakfast & Brunch Tagged With: Banana, Coconut, Coconut Milk, Quinoa

Lemon Coconut Tea Cake

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Lemon Coconut Tea Cake

Happy Easter to all of you who are celebrating. We’re having a relaxing weekend at home with nothing scheduled other than a casual Easter dinner on Sunday. If the weather stays as perfect as it’s been here lately, we’ll get to enjoy it on the patio.

This is the Lemon Coconut Tea Cake I baked for my mom for her birthday. It’s not your typical birthday cake since she prefers plain unfrosted cakes like pound cakes, bundt cakes and coffee cakes. (Last year I made her this lighter homemade pound cake from scratch.)

As I was scanning cookbooks for ideas, I came across this recipe for lemon coconut tea cake, which I thought sounded perfect (Mom’s a lemon and coconut fan), in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, a beautiful book I don’t use nearly enough.

Instead of baking a large (10 to 12-cup) bundt cake, I divided the batter and made one small 6-cup bundt cake for her and a few mini 1-cup bundts for us.

Moist, plain but very satisfying in it’s simplicity, it’s the kind of cake both she and I like best. I gave it a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar to dress it up just a bit for the photo.

Enjoy!
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Filed Under: 6 PointsPlus, Cakes Tagged With: Bundt, Coconut, Coconut Milk, Lemon

Weight Watchers Cereal with Spiced Fruit Ambrosia

By Martha McKinnon 2 Comments

Here’a another vintage weight watchers breakfast recipe, this one from the Weight Watchers’ 365-Day Menu Cookbook published in 1981. (I love old cookbooks and Weight Watchers cookbooks are no exception. While some of the recipes seem dated and unappealing, I always end up finding a few treasures hidden within their pages, like this one for cottage cheese danish.)

This simple breakfast cereal recipe caught my eye, probably because of its tasty title – “Cereal with Spiced Fruit Ambrosia” sounds so sweet and satisfying.

It’s basically cream of wheat cooked with nonfat milk, to which you add fruit cocktail juice, sweetener, and a little ground cinnamon and ginger. (The original recipe calls for artificial sweetener, but I’m not a big fan, so substituted a little maple syrup instead. Use what you like and adjust the PointsPlus accordingly. For example my 2-3 teaspoons of maple syrup has 1 PointsPlus so my breakfast would be 6 instead of 5.)

You place the cereal on top of a serving of fruit cocktail and then sprinkle it with a little shredded coconut. In addition to sounding yummy, it seemed like the perfect way to use up the toasted coconut I had left after making this citrus pomegranate fruit salad.

Fruit Cocktail

This Weight Watchers Cereal with Spiced Fruit Ambrosia is a warm, satisfying way to begin the day on a cool fall or winter morning. And it helps me meet this month’s Weight Watchers routine to incorporate fruits and/or veggies at every meal and snack.

To save time during the week you could always make a big batch of cream of wheat on Sunday and store it in the fridge to rewarm during busy weekday mornings .

Do you have a favorite breakfast cereal recipe that incorporates a serving or two of fruit? I’d love for you to tell us about it!

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 5 PointsPlus, Breakfast & Brunch Tagged With: Coconut, Cream of Wheat, Fruit Cocktail

Citrus and Pomegranate Fruit Salad with Toasted Coconut

By Martha McKinnon 3 Comments

Citrus, Pomegranate and HOney with Toasted Coconut

Citrus and Pomegranate Fruit Salad with Toasted Coconut

Ruby red grapefruit, orange and clementine slices topped with pomegranate seeds and toasted and drizzled with honey. This colorful refreshing fruit salad from December’s Whole Living magazine looked so delicious, I immediately tore out the recipe and stuck it in my file as a Christmas breakfast possibility.

In true Martha Stewart fashion, the recpe called for a cara cara orange, a fancy red-fleshed naval orange, that wasn’t available at my market, so I opted for a plain old orange naval orange instead. I also substituted toasted sweetened coconut for the unsweetened called for since it’s what was in the pantry, and decreased the pomegranate seeds to 1/4 cup from 1 cup, which seemed like way too many. I also used a little less toasted coconut than specified.

Served with whole grain toast, bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon, this yummy citrus and pomegranate fruit salad with honey and toasted coconut was the star of our Christmas breakfast. With just 77 calories and 2 Weight Watchers PointPlus, it’s a light, healthy and delicious way to begin your day.

Peeling the citrus is the most challenging aspect of this simple fruit salad. If you’re not sure the best way to do it, I’ve included a YouTube video showing how to peel a grapefruit toward the end of the post.

Enjoy!

Weight Watchers Friendly Coconut Hot Cocoa to Celebrate National Cocoa Day

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Weight Watchers Friendly Coconut Hot Cocoa in Celebration of National Cocoa Day - December 12th

Weight Watchers Friendly Coconut Hot Cocoa in Celebration of National Cocoa Day – 12/12

This week’s Weight Watcher’s Weekly included a link to this recipe for coconut hot cocoa to celebrate National Cocoa day (which they reported as 12/13, but turns out to be 12/12) that immediately got my attention. I’m a huge fan of both hot cocoa and coconut, but had never thought to combine the flavors.

So in honor of National Cocoa Day, I decided to treat myself to a cup. I ended up making several changes to the original recipe. I decreased the proportions to make only 1 serving instead of 4. And I used my favorite coconut milk beverage instead of a combination of skim milk and canned light coconut milk. To kick up the coconut flavor a bit, I added a little coconut extract. And I topped it with a little light whipped topping and a sprinkle of coconut, since it was a celebration, after all.

If you’re looking for more Weight Watchers friendly hot cocoa recipes, I’ve included a few links at the end of the post.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 4 PointsPlus, Drinks Tagged With: Cocoa, Coconut, Coconut Milk

{38 Power Foods} Enlightened Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake

By Martha McKinnon 3 Comments

Enlightened Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake

After a little holiday hiatus our little group of bloggers working its way through Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients (by Martha Stewart and the editors of Whole Living Magazine) continues it exploration of grains and legumes this week with oats.

The first thing that probably comes to mind when you think of oats is a steamy bowl of oatmeal on a chilly morning, but the truth is that they can add extra nutrition to a variety of healthy dishes.

Did you know that oats contain more protein than any other cereal grain? (I didn’t!) They’re also rich in beta-glucan, a type of soluble fiber known to significantly lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar. And if that weren’t enough, just one cup of oatmeal gives you at least 20% of your daily RDA of thiamine, folate, B5, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese.

Guess what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow?

I’ve like oatmeal for as long as I can remember. Especially when turned into oatmeal cookies. Or oatmeal bread. Or oatmeal cake. In fact, I liked the Quaker Oats Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake my mother made so much when I was a kid, it became my official birthday cake! (She even made me one this year.)

So, making the lazy daisy oatmeal cake seemed like the natural choice for this week. Already, pretty healthy as sweet treats go, I decided to give the recipe a makeover, lightening it up a bit. I substituted applesauce for some of the butter and used canola oil for the rest, cut back on the sugar, and made the pieces a little smaller since its such a heavy filling cake.

We each had a piece for dessert last night. It tasted just as good as Mom’s!

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 6 PointsPlus, Cakes, Desserts & Sweets Tagged With: Coconut, Oats

Bran Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

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Bran Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Bread

A wholesome tasty banana bread filled with lots of good-for-you ingredients including bran, whole wheat flour, bananas, yogurt, chocolate chips and coconut.

Banana bread is one of my favorite things so I’m always experimenting with different recipes and flavor combinations. This one is slightly adapted from a muffin recipe in 750 Best Muffin Recipes: Everything from breakfast classics to gluten-free, vegan and coffeehouse favorites, a wonderful cookbook for muffin lovers from the talented Camilla Saulsbury.

(Since reading several years ago that quick bread and muffin recipes are virtually the same and interchangeable, I’ve been having fun mixing things up.)

This not-too-sweet bread baked up moist and delicious. Using mini chocolate chips helps insure you get a taste of chocolate in every bite. Adding the coconut was my idea. I love it’s chewy sweetness. But you could always leave it out if you prefer.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 6 PointsPlus, Breads & Muffins Tagged With: Banana, Bran, Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Whole Grain

Skinny Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Cookie Bars

By Martha McKinnon 1 Comment

Plate of lighter chocolate coconut cake mix bar cookies

Tower of Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Bar Cookies

Skinny Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Bar Cookies

Don’t these skinny chocolate coconut cake mix bar cookies look yummy? They are incredibly easy and delicious with only 3 PointsPlus value too! When you’re craving a sweet chocolate treat, these easy chocolate cake mix bar cookies will do the trick.

My brother, Peter, and I recently published our first eCookbook – Easy Cake Mix Bar Cookies: 25 Tried and True Recipes - in conjunction with our cookie website, Best Ever Cookie Collection.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a longtime recipe collecting fanatic and cookie lover, who enjoys the occasional kitchen shortcut, especially when it comes to cookie baking. I discovered how quick and easy it was to make cookies using a cake mix a couple of years ago and have been enjoying experimenting with them ever since.

I’m also a lifetime member of Weight Watchers who still tracks (most days) how many PointsPlus values I’m taking in, so now I’m working to calculate the nutrition and Weight Watchers PointsPlus information for all 25 bar cookie recipes in the book. As soon as it’s complete, I will post it here for all who are interested.

The good thing about cookies, is that they are naturally portion-controlled, making them a good choice for those of us who struggle with our weight and overeating.

I’m also experimenting with ways to make the cake mix cookie and bar cookie recipes in the eCookbook lighter and healthier.

This recipe for skinny chocolate coconut cake mix bar cookies was my first attempt and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!

They definitely looked a little underdone when I pulled the pan from the oven. But when it comes to baking brownie and bar cookies, it’s better to err on the underdone (not overdone) side, especially if you like your bar cookies soft and chewy. (If you bake them too long they will be dry and hard – not what you want!)

Skinny Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Bar Cookies

This is a super simple basic recipe that you can modify dozens of ways depending on what flavor of cake mix and kinds of mix-ins you choose.

For this attempt, I chose a package of chocolate cake mix because that was what was in the pantry. Since I love the combination of chocolate and coconut (think Mounds candy bar) - I stirred in some sweetened flaked coconut, white chocolate chips and semisweet chocolate chips. And I had a bottle of coconut extract in the cupboard, so added a little for good measure.

I lightened up the recipe for these chocolate coconut cake mix bar cookies by cutting back on the oil and using some nonfat Greek yogurt in it’s place. And I used fewer mix-ins, since they can be calorie heavy.

Everyone who got to try them gave them a hearty thumbs up.

Do you have a favorite bar cookie flavor combination? Oh, please tell!

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 3 PointsPlus, Cookies & Brownies Tagged With: Cake Mix, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Coconut

Skinny Easy Healthy Banana Coconut Date Muffins Recipe

By Martha McKinnon Leave a Comment

Skinny Healthy Banana Coconut Date Muffin

Skinny easy healthy banana coconut date muffins; Perfect as part of a light and healthy breakfast or snack. And a wonderful way to use up those very black over-ripe bananas that you end up with every now and again.

There have been 3 over-ripe banana staring at me from the counter for several days, getting more and more black. Yesterday was the day I had a decision to make: either toss them into the trash or do something with them. So, wanting something different than my simple low fat banana bread, I tried to get a little creative and came up with these healthy banana coconut date muffins.

When it’s time to use up leftover bananas, what’s the first thing you think of?

The first things that pop into my head are quick breads and muffins. I’m not sure if that’s because I love them or because they are so easy to stir together. I’m all about maximum reward for minimal effort.

Skinny Healthy Banana Coconut Date Muffins

I used a combination of whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour and old fashioned rolled oats. Since the bananas, coconut, and dates all add sweetness, I only used 1/2 cup brown sugar. Sticking with the coconut theme, I used light coconut milk and 3 tablespoons of coconut oil for added moistness and healthy fat.

I sampled one yesterday afternoon, when still warm from the oven. (I definitely think muffins are at the best they day they’re baked) And had another one for breakfast this morning with a little breakfast parfait of greek yogurt, honey, and oranges. Just 20 seconds in the microwave warmed this healthy muffin just enough to give it that fresh-from-the oven taste I love.

If you’re looking for a way to use up those leftover bananas that’s a little out of the ordinary, these muffins are definitely worth trying.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 5 PointsPlus, Breads & Muffins, Breakfast & Brunch Tagged With: Banana, Coconut, Coconut Milk, Date, Whole Grain